


In Darkness I Remain

by vix_spes



Series: Fan Flashworks Challenges [7]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Temporary Character Death, M/M, Not Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Compliant, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 11:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4261077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whatever words agents of SHIELD used to describe Agent Clint Barton, sentimental wasn't one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Darkness I Remain

Clint had never considered himself to be at all sentimental but, looking at the contents of the lock box spread out in front of him, he was coming to the realisation that he was apparently more sentimental than he had thought. It was also slightly depressing that, for a man in his thirties, he could all of his most prized possessions into the fairly small lock box, with the exception of his beloved bows of course.

To anybody else, the contents of the box would look like nothing more than a collection of tat but, to Clint, all of the items were priceless. Yes, it was an odd collection but that made them more special. There were very few items in the box from his time pre-SHIELD. There was a battered old photo of him and Barney with their mum, faded and creased down the middle; a rare happy memory from when his dad wasn't around and before he killed himself and Clint's mom drunk driving. There was a flyer from Carson's Circus proclaiming the Amazing Hawkeye: The World's Greatest Marksman and a couple of drawings that Madam Lina, the fortune teller, had done for him in the days when he would hide from Trickshot and the Swordsman in her caravan.

Everything else dated from his time at SHIELD and all of it revolved around two people; Phil Coulson and Natasha Romanov. There was the bullet that they had dug out of his thigh the night Coulson brought him into SHIELD and the dagger Natasha had held against his stomach when he convinced her to join him and SHIELD. There was an empty donut bag and a pen that made him smile at the thought of the rumours that Senior Agent Phil Coulson has incapacitated people with obscure everyday items. The realisation that it was now had rather than has made Clint swallow heavily and move onto the next item in the box.

The item made him smile, keeping the maudlin thoughts at bay, at least temporarily. The photo showed himself and Natasha smiling brightly at the camera, both dressed to the nines in evening wear. Looking at them, they were no different to any other young couple out for a posh event. You would never guess that their glamorous outfits hid a multitude of weapons and that that night they had brought down an international smuggling ring. The next few things were a bit harder to look at; a couple of notes from Coulson – ridiculous sappy things -, the paperwork that Coulson had submitted to make himself Clint's sole handler, the paperwork that had been filed to form Strike Team Delta.

He paused for a moment, registering the presence that had slipped into his locked rooms, before he placed two more items in the box; a jewellery box containing two items that he now had no use for and a set of bloodied Captain America trading cards before he locked it. He had barely registered the press of Natasha against his side before she spoke.

“You can't just lock him away Clint. It doesn't work like that.”

Clint smiled sadly as he fingered the dog tags that he hadn't been able to put in the box. “I know that Nat, but it might just make it hurt a bit less.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you would prefer to comment on LJ, you can do so [here](http://vix-spes.livejournal.com/195154.html)


End file.
